THE
SCHOOL
OF GAMES
I
Cassi Camilleri
12
n The Histories, Herodotus tells the
story of King Atys of Lydia in Asia
Minor, whose realm was ravaged by
a devastating drought 3000 years
ago; one which left his people suffering under a great famine. The Lydians blindly accepted the situation and
ploughed on, hoping that the terrible
drought would pass but it did not. Desperate for a solution to remedy their
misfortune, the Lydians came up with
an unconventional plan — to engage in
games. For one whole day, the people of
Lydia devoted themselves whole-heartedly to games, so they forgot about being hungry. The next day they ate, and
on the following, they returned to their
games. In this way 18 years of famine
passed and in the meantime, the people
of Lydia invented dice, ball, and many
other popular games.
While the truth behind this story
is questionable, at its core is an essential truth about games. Games provide
an escape from reality, but that escape is a purposeful one. The Lydians
used games to escape the famine that
gripped their land. In that same way,
people now use games to achieve the
engagement they long for; an engagement which the world, for whatever
reason, fails to provide. As Jane McGonigal says in her book Reality is Broken,
‘we are starving and our games are feeding us’.
Just a few years ago, the phrase ‘to
know something’ often referred to
retaining and reciting information.
Knowledge was synonymous with recollection of content, be it history, science, literature, or any other subject.
Today, that meaning has changed dras-
THINK Gaming
In ancient times games played an integral role in
society. Whilst in today’s hyperlinked world, games
have evolved into complex, sophisticated mechanisms
that enthral millions. Now, however, games are
dismissed as trivial, and of no real value. But is this
really the case? Cassi Camilleri meets the research
team gamED from the University of Malta to find out
tically to problem solving: the ability to
locate information, analyse it, and apply
it successfully to find solutions.
This shift has brought with it obvious changes to society, especially when
it comes to training and education.
The focus in any course should now lie
with teaching higher order skills such as
critical thinking, problem solving, and
innovation. According to the research
group gamED — games naturally support this kind of learning.
Made up of Prof. Matthew Montebello, Prof. Alexiei Dingli, and Prof.
Liberato Camilleri, together with Vanessa Camilleri and Leonard Busuttil,
gamED is a group from the Faculties of
Education and ICT at the University of
Malta who came together back in 2007
thanks to a mutual passion for video
games. This shared fascination with the
medium and its capabilities inspired
them to look into its vast potential. Together they now share a vision that sees
games being used for much more than
just entertainment. They also educate
and empower people in Maltese society.
Their main goal is to harness the
positive aspects of games, to direct the
attention games enjoy from users towards a more productive outcome. By
using games in education and training,
learning can be greatly facilitated and
enhanced. Games can help students
achieve much more than the traditional
pen and paper educational system could
ever provide.
One of their most recent studies, due
to be published in the coming months,
is the first report on video game usage
in Malta. Funded by the Malta Communications Authority, it investigates
the trends and patterns in digital game
play on the island through a representative population sample. This report has
strengthened the team’s resolve with
its promising results that indicate that
their ultimate goal is not pie in the sky.
According to the study, 74% of Maltese people aged between 3 and 55
play digital or video games. Of these
53% play every single day and 20% will
play for more than an hour. There is
no doubt about it — the consumption
of video games in Malta is widespread.
This statement also extends to children,
whose engagement with games is almost across the board with 98% of the
country’s parents saying that they allow
their children to play games.
The conclusion easily drawn from
these findings is that Malta holds the
perfect conditions to effectively »
13
implement games as part of its training and educational systems. Serious
games are the answer. Serious games are
designed to teach a particular skill or
behaviour, or to raise awareness about
a subject, motivating users by providing
challenge, curiosity, control, and fantasy.
Their inherently scaffolded structure
— a trait present in all games — delivers learning/teaching at the time it is
needed as well as continuous feedback
during play, allowing users to develop
‘mastery’ of a skill. These games create a
compelling need to know, ask, examine,
assimilate and master certain skills and
content areas. Some experts argue that
games are, first and foremost, learning
systems and that this accounts for the
sense of engagement and entertainment
players experience. In his book Fun Inc.
Chatfield agrees, stating that games
without learning or skill acquisition fail
as the ‘result will soon be boredom’.
As Vanessa Camilleri explains, the
effectiveness of serious games has already been proven. She points to the
medical field as a major success story
where serious games have been developed to impart specific competencies
to future doctors. But these games have
also been used by the UN World Food
Programme to educate people about
the causes, effects, and solutions to
famine in developing nations. Even Renault has used them to raise awareness
on eco-driving. The application of this
technology is endless.
Sadly, the journey towards meaningful engaged learning in Malta has not
been straightforward. The challenges
will be a steep mountain to climb in the
years ahead.
14
The moment
students started
seeing the tasks
as fun, they also
stopped seeing
them as part of the
learning process,
“It was not serious
enough to be
learning”
gamED have run various experiments,
attempting to implement games within
training and educational structures. The
results, for the most part were considerable, but one thing became clear — it
will take time for people to subscribe to
this concept.
Although not under gamED umbrella, the first attempt saw Camilleri working with 100 pre-service teachers as part
of her doctorate on virtual worlds and
serious games. The practical application
of the study involved the use of serious
games in an immersive virtual world to
teach about educational technologies.
The students’ course took place exclusively online. Presentations were made
in the virtual world, papers were submitted through the portal, meetings
also took place there and, as time wore
on, the world became populated by the
students’ own work.
Camilleri reports that there was an initial resistance to the idea. The universi-
Leonard Busuttil
Prof. Alexiei Dingli
Prof. matthew Montebello
Vanessa Camilleri
Prof. Liberato Camilleri
Gaming
ty students felt uncomfortable with this
new method of working. They found it
shocking and confusing since they had
no previous experience of learning inside a virtual world. However, despite
the hurdles, the study went on and at
the end gave an amazing response. Participants were interacting and producing vast amount of work at a fast pace,
engaging with the virtual world and the
content within. But as the experiment
progressed the interaction started to
taper and perceptions began to change.
The moment students started seeing the
tasks as fun, they also stopped seeing
them as equal parts of the learning process. ‘They were no longer deemed serious enough to constitute real learning’,
Camilleri said. Looking back on this
experience, Prof. Montebello points out
that the lack of ‘chalk and talk’ made
the students nervous. Being online and
in the virtual world meant that ‘it was
not real’.
This happened again on another
occasion when gamED introduced a
game called Quest Atlantis from the
University of Indiana at a private, independent school to children between
9 and 15. Used worldwide to teach
concepts as diverse as physics, biology, and creative writing, this was a
prime example of what serious games
should be. Provided with their own
accounts children were asked to play.
Once again, the response was overwhelmingly positive with the children
completing their tasks successfully and
diligently. However, during the subsequent interviews, the idea of replacing books with the game was not well
received. Students plainly told the »
THINK Gaming
98%
74%
53%
20%
of parents said that they allow
their children to play games
of Maltese people aged between 3 and 55
play digital or video games
of the population play every single day
play more than an hour every day
15
Gaming
An immersive virtual world was used to teach 100 pre-service
teachers about educational technologies
group the move would not be possible. ‘This is fun but we do this at
home — this is not learning.’
This experience confirmed the very
perception gamED keeps trying to alter — ‘for some, a game is a game. The
older generation grew up with the idea
that video games were solely for leisure
and that has now been taken on by the
younger generation’, said Prof. Dingli.
Vanessa Camilleri confirms that in Malta, our perception of learning is very
linear requiring lessons, books, homework, and eventually an exam. But this
could be argued to be ‘a very superficial way of looking at things’ and also
highlights something of a paradox very
common in Maltese society. People call
for change but when concrete steps are
taken to that effect there is an immediate push-back from all sides. Camilleri
agrees, ‘Maltese society is not yet ready
for such a massive change’.
For most educators, implementing serious games is a daunting task. Change
tends to put many out of their comfort
zone. GamED has observed that in
many institutions, the set curriculum
is followed literally to the letter rather
than interpreted and expanded to make
it more engaging and flexible.
But the situation is far from hopeless.
GamED’s latest attempt to bring serious
games to the public has gone a step further than previous efforts. Part of the
ICT students’ coursework has been to
devise serious games to raise awareness
on the importance of blood donation.
Working with the Mater Dei Hospital’s
blood transfusion unit, gamED will
provide the best games produced for
the unit as part of a national campaign.
Clearly, as the impact of games continues to be studied and analysed,
change will inevitably follow.
16
Camilleri sees a bright future ahead
for serious games, ‘In future, I see more
efforts being made. I also see parents
changing their perceptions, becoming
more open to the idea of games used as
a tool to educate. This happens especially as the gamers of today grow up and
become parents themselves.’
Prof. Dingli points to the budding
games industry in Malta and the government’s plans to launch a gaming incubator. He hopes it will attract to the
industry young minds who could bring
new ideas on the effective application of
games in society.
Prof. Montebello urges government
entities such as Malta’s Employment
and Training Centre (ETC) to get on
board. By pushing serious games as part
of employability training, they will
more likely be accepted by the public as
part of the educational system.
To drive the movement ahead,
gamED is now preparing for the conference VS-Games 2014. To kick off
in September, the conference targets
This is about creating
cultural shift — a
global one. Industry,
political policy,
education and the
members of society,
as varied as they
are... they all have
to work together to
make it happen
cross-disciplinary communities with
emphasis on virtual worlds and games
for serious applications. Getting the
relevant players together to discuss the
way forward at this stage is crucial.
Raising awareness of the untapped
potential the medium holds should
bring in some much needed investment. Finance is needed for serious
games (a price tag that is presently
out of reach for Malta) and to build
the right courses. Professionals need
to learn to use them effectively in various fields.
Camilleri states that ‘for serious
games to become part of Maltese education and training, an all-round effort
is needed. This is not about a group of
game fans trying to convince a country that their views are correct. This
is about creating a brighter, more engaging future for future generations.
A cultural shift is in order — a global
one. Industry, political policy, education, and the members of society must
rally and work together to make it
happen. History has proven time and
time again that such a task will not be
easy. But it has also proven that it can
be done.’
•
FURTHER READING
• McGonigal, J., (2011). Reality is broken: Why Games Make us Better and
How They Can Change the World.
London: Penguin Group.
• Eljamalic, S., Fahlib, A., Mouaheba, H., & Moussetadb, M., (2012).
The Serious Game: What Educational
Benefits? In Procedia — Social and
Behavioral Sciences, Volume 46,
(pp. 5502–5508). WCES.
• Chatfield, T., (2010). Fun Inc.: Why
games are the 21st century’s most
serious business. UK: Virgin Books.